I get that I am supposed to just HATE Grey, as he’s the essence of douchebag-jock-bully who is the antithesis of every reclusive D&D devout, but I just can’t have too much sympathy for Sam in these encounters.

Why does he always have to poke the bear? I dealt with tons of guys like this in High School and never got in a fight once because I knew well enough to keep my head down. Now I’m a computer engineer, and those meatheads bag my groceries.

What I was ignore the idiots and study hard. Instead of black eyes and bloody noses I got A’s and A plusses. Now as a direct result he’s making minimum wage and I live in an adorable beach cottage on waterfront property. If that wasn’t “changing the status quo”, then I’m happy with the status quo.

I always fought back, somewhat for myself, somewhat for my friends and others he’d no doubt piss off. Never had to fight back more than once against the same person, fought about a dozen people in various schools growing up. Still loose friends with some of them, have respect of all of them (not for most of them, but that’s not much important). Worst injury I ever took was a couple pulled muscles from a wrestler, or a black eye from a boxer… the rest had no actual knowledge of combat beyond “me big, me squish little geeks”, which doesn’t exactly work.

Published a book in middle school, skipped college, as there’s exactly one professor who really has any pull in my field, and started my own business (which I term a lab, because I feel it more honest) because I generally don’t like the way others are run. Have a team of diversely skilled people who work with me, mostly doing R&D in cybernetics and automation.

The status quo was that people still have to go through that to get to the top… and many can’t (Either have reasons they can’t hack it, or will have worse bullies). The guys I’m still in contact with? All but one are parents… you know what else they are? Discouraging of bullies. It’s not a huge change, but there’s a lot people can do. I usually didn’t need force (though I don’t deny having it as a backup was probably the reason for the confidence, which is needed). Threats of legal action and similar are usually all that’s needed (neat tip: Most bullies have authoritarian parents, which are sometimes abusive, and who frequently derive their authority from the ability to physically overpower the subject… guess how that translates to social capability?).

I don’t begrudge you what you did, there’s certainly a reason to try and keep your head down in some instances, but there are cases where: “Keeping quiet” still earns black eyes (that’s the point where I fight back), or where it’s not you, it’s someone who is defenseless being taken advantage of. Without confrontation, these people will keep being this way, and, most importantly perhaps, will inflict this mindset on their children for no other reason than that it has worked for them.

Maybe it came from being a big tall guy, but these idiots didn’t beat me up in high school, but they were jerks just the same and until high school did their best to make me angry, because seeing me lose my temper and get in trouble was funny.

How is Grey not in jail? When one adult beats the crap out of another adult without due provocation, it’s called assault. I know, I know… bringing real world logic into a fantasy-based web comic. Still, boy needs to be in a cell.

A lot of people overlook confrontations, or perhaps their universe runs differently because, ya know, magic and mechanical differences (Santa is a real dude, and he’s not to be fucked with, because he’ll make you his ho ho hoe).

That said, in the states a lot of places overlook minor fights in the name of “social order”, and a lot of people condone or suggest bullying to “keep people in line with X”. This is common, to whatever extent it is, in highly religious rural places, for example.

Also, how old are these people? Younger adults usually pick up warnings… if every fucking frat boy who did something stupid lived in a cell…

Okay, can someone explain to me why Mel is still dating this a$$clown? He doesn’t respect her hobby at all and treats people horribly, including her. Does she have no self-respect at all? Does she like jerks?

Okay. I usually take the high road on comments like this (and they are thankfully rare) but I will go in for this one.

Here’s the thing: If this arc, comic, me, my art, or anything else about this site feels like a chore or an inconvenience then stop reading. No hard feelings and not with a cross word from me. It is a large internet and there are a LOT of awesome comics out there. Like many creators, I experiment with new ideas and I am working on telling a long-form story. These characters do not change within 30 minutes like a sitcom. They could but I am going for something that long-term readers will appreciate and feel rewarded for following as everything develops.

Again, if this isn’t for you, I get that but I am going to create the comics I want to create and try new things (for me).

I somehow don’t think that the death of a main character would cause this comic to go back to cheesy one-off jokes.

It is a very natural thing for comics of this kind to make the evolution from “three panels, have a laugh” to “persistent storyline with continuity” as the artist evolves and learns to maintain a narrative. It is part of the artist “growing up”

PVP did it, Questionable Content did it, Irregular Webcomic did it. All of them have moved to a place where the storytelling is better, but you are not guaranteed a laugh every single day. And that is ok, they all are still funny most of the time.

This comic doesn’t have to be “funny” every single day, as long as it remains engaging. Personally, I have found this plot very emotionally difficult at times. I’ve been angry at the characters. Really angry. And that’s a good thing, because it means I’m engaged with the story. I care about it, and the characters.

The reason Sam doesn’t “call the cops” on Grey is because his story arc is one of disempowerment. He is powerful within the campaign, within the narrative. He is powerful behind the DM shield, but not in his real life. This is something many of us deal with, the reason we escape into fantastic worlds.

I’m interested to see where this is going, and will continue to read the comic. I hope you do too. If you need a laugh every time, there are comics which don’t strive for a narrative like Penny-Arcade and XKCD. There’s room for all of them.

Oh i have no problem with a serial storyline, its one of the best ways to get readership in the long run. Also you certainly need a villain or at least something like that anyway. Its more that sam isnt likable and the whole story line would be better without him. But instead this will eventually end with him vanquishing his foe with words or some crap and he will get the girl. Thats not how the real world works and delusions are a dangerous thing to play out even in a fictional enviroment.

I think it would be funny if we’re all reading into grey’s actions a bit much. It’d be cool if his last encounter actually had an effect and he simply started laughing at the joke. “I totally do don’t I? haha” that’s just me though, I find it funny when characters do things that are not expected of them.